To Cool the Fire
by Andie Sky
Summary: How do the mutants fare after the cure? Is it permanent? Where are Scott, the Professor and Jean Gray? Ryro
1. Pyro Awakens

**California**

On the site of what had once been the Alcatraz prison, a rock shifted slightly. It wobbled, then promptly fell back into place. An audible groan was sounded, unheard by anyone but its source.Then, a roaring flame shot upward, clearing the rubble mound entirely.

A battered and bruised John Allerdyce shifted uncomfortably as he tried to sit up and take in his surroundings. Waiting for his vision to focus, he expected to find the remains of the Brotherhood. When it finally did, he found nothing more than debris and flames.

_Shit, _he thought to himself silently.

The last thing John, or Pyro, remembered was Bobby Drake turning into an ice cube and giving him one chilling headache.

Frantically, he searched for his lighter. He spotted it a few feet away. As he picked it up, it calmed his nerves. He always felt like he had better control with it in his hand.

A rumble from behind him snapped him temporarily out of his reverie, and he froze at the sound of tires. He listened and heard the sound of doors opening, feet shuffling, and then the cocking of numerous guns.

John turned, only to be met with the blinding light coming from a van that visibly read S.W.A.T. He wondered how they had gotten to the isolated rock in the first place. Then he remembered the bridge.

Instinctively, Pyro reached for his lighter, and he heard it click open. He was instantly satisfied with the look of fear on the S.W.A.T. members' faces as he lit a small flame.

A voice raw with fear sounded somewhat timidly from the front of the group.

"We know who you are freak! Now that lighter isn't going to kill every one of us before somebody gets a shot in."

John pondered this thought. What the man said was true. But he wasn't looking forward to going back to a reality without anywhere to go. The Brotherhood was disbanded, destroyed. The former Jean Gray had made sure of that.

The man spoke again.

"Look. Just toss the lighter over to us. We aren't going to kill you."

He disregarded the man completely, and focused on the lighter.

With the wave of his hand, the fire of the lighter moved into John's palm. It began to expand rapidly into a massive ball of fire.

Just as he was going to reign hell upon the group that stood before him, he heard a jet descending upon them. His attention turned towards the sky.

The leader of the group saw this as the perfect moment of opportunity.

He aimed his gun, and hesitated slightly.

The person before him was only a kid. A teen who looked much like his own thin, brunette son.

_He's a mutant. A dangerous mutant who murders without reason. Forgive me God._

With that thought, he fired directly at the kid's neck.

Pyro felt a sickening pain hit his neck. He pulled the needle that had hit him out.

After staring closely, he realized with horror that this wasn't a tranquilizer.

The green liquid that had been injected into his body was the cure.

The last thing John Allerdyce remembered was the shouting of someone, and then being knocked out by the end someone's gun.


	2. A Picture Worth 1,000 Memories

**New York**

Back at the mansion, there was a slight uproar in the dormitories.

"Why did you do it?" came a male's voice inside one of the many rooms.

Kitty Pryde, a student and X-man, moved closer to the door of Marie D'Ancanto, which was cracked slightly open, in order to get a better listen.

"I don't know Bobby! My power…"

The timid Southern voice, identifiable only as Rogue's, was cut off by Robert Drake' exasperated one.

"…was a curse. I know, you've told me. But Rogue, you've gotta understand! You've got it all wrong!"

"No Bobby! I don't!" Kitty was surprised to here her friends voice rising to such a level.

"Do you know how it felt!" The question was a loaded one, and Kitty could see Bobby's posture slouch a little.

"NO! To not _just_ touch, but nothing! Anything!"

She paused for a moment, as if for effect.

"Holding hands…kissing…even a high five for God's sake! I mean, even with the gloves…it just wasn't real. And my skin, it _killed_. And sometimes…those memories…'

She trailed off, and looked skyward.

"As if being a teenage mutant wasn't enough. To have other voices, other minds, thoughts, feelings, dreams! When I touched someone, it was as if they lived inside me! Like when I took Logan's life-force so many times. All his nightmares, for so long they were mine. And in Boston I could feel so much of you inside my head, but it was drowned out…from when I touched John. All his anger… it was like with everything I did, his anger was suffocating me."

Bobby wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry…"

Rogue pulled away abruptly.

"You know that I can't stay here anymore. Right?"

Bobby kissed her lightly, his lips feeling like ice on hers.

"I know," he muttered into her ear, "I just can't stand to never see you again."

"This doesn't have to end, you know. We can make this work. It's part of the reason why I took the cure. For us."

With sad, despairing eyes, Bobby turned and walked towards the door. He stopped, and began to twist his fingers.

He spun around and closed the distance in between him and Rogue. Grabbing her waist, he pulled her into a long, passionate kiss. The very thing Rogue had been waiting for so long to have, was finally here, now, happening.

For the first time, there was no reason to hold back.

But somehow, to Rogue, it felt so much like a goodbye kiss.

Bobby pulled back, and began to once again move for the door. Turning to look over his shoulder, he whispered something to her that would haunt her for nights.

"Goodbye Marie."

"But Bobby wait-"

It was too late though, because he had already closed the door. A door that only one other man would ever be able to open again.

Kitty, in a panic, pretended to be surprised to see Bobby as he exited Rogue's-or now Marie's-room.

"Bobby! I was just passing by! Are you okay?"

Stretching a fake smile, he waved her off.

"Yea. I'm fine. Just tired. See ya later?"

"Yea, sure."

Bobby smiled again, this time for real, and walked off.

Kitty Pryde then walked to her room, feeling a slight pang of joy.

In her room, Rogue shuffled through some old photos she had collected for an assignment which would be due soon.

_Oh well. Guess I'll never get to finish it. Back to normal school, a normal life._

The thought of returning to Mississippi gave her an odd mix of joy and fear.

She shuffled through her selected stack, and stopped as she came across an aged photo she'd only seen once before. She sunk to the floor, examining it.

It was taken years back, her first year at Xavier's school. It had been taken after Liberty Island, inside one of the mansion's "recreation" rooms.

It was her and two boys, playing pinball one afternoon. She even remembered Logan taking it for her. He had offered to take pictures of the campus so she could have a break. Turns out her favorite one had been an accident.

_Flashback_

"_Hey Kid. You look beat."_

_Rogue's eyes opened quickly._

"_You know," he pointed out as he sat beside her, "sleeping on the couch probably isn't a good idea in a school for mutants. These kids can do worse than doodle on your face with markers."_

_She smiled, then stretched._

"_I'm not supposed to be napping anyway. I have an assignment. An assignment about what it was like when you first realized you were a mutant."_

_Logan laughed. _

"_Sounds…"_

"_Boring." She cut him off. "I know."_

"_So how come you're taking pictures then?" _

_She gave a tired sigh._

"_We have to present it. Have to have something to show for it. I'm just doing a slideshow."_

"_Hey Rogue!"_

_Logan and Rogue both turned their attention towards a young brunette boy about Rogue's age._

"_Foosball table?"_

_As she hesitated, Logan thought for a moment. Even though he had been planning on leaving again, he figured he could spare an hour or so._

"_Any way I can help?"_

_Rogue's face beamed. _

"_Well…" she looked over Logan's shoulder at the boy._

"_I do need campus pictures."_

_Logan took the camera from her._

"_Go have fun Kid."_

"_Thank you!" Then, she ran past him towards the next room._

_Logan moved put the camera around his neck, feeling like a total idiot as he did._

_He had no idea how to work her camera._

_He started towards the room Rogue and the boy had just went inside, and stumbled in as he paid more attention to fiddling with the camera than where he was going. Suddenly, the flash went off._

_Rogue and the boys she was with turned to look._

"_Well, I guess I know how to work this thing now."_

_And with that, he left._

_End of Flashback_

Rogue sighed. The memory, the picture-all so long ago.

The photowas a bit tilted, but okay.

The sun shone through the windows, reflecting onto the teens.

In the corner, Rogue caught sight of Dr. Gray in a hurry to get somewhere. This caused a small pain in her heart that she immediately tried to ignore.

On the right were Bobby and herself, looking so happy together. So far from all the problems that Rogue's mutation that would cause for them in the future.

But the most heartbreaking scene was the boy standing across from them, the one who had come to get her in the first place.

Thin and short, John Allerdyce stood against the couple, playing them in foosball. Rogue couldn't really remember, but he had probably won. He was good at it.

The worst part, though, was a rare moment Logan had caught. John was smiling a true smile, as if he were truly happy where he was. So far from the anger and recklessness that finally drove him to join the Brotherhood.

Overwhelmed, she moved quickly to the next picture.

She sat there for hours, forgetting completely about Bobby.


	3. It Won't Be Too Long

Disclaimer: (forgot this twice already) I wish I owned the X-Men, (especially Pyro) but I don't.

A/N: Alright everyone, I feel I have explaining to do. I don't remember the movie so well, especially the end, so that's why this is AU, so it's not exactly like the movie. I'm just very inconsistent really…

**New York**

The only sound was dripping water.

_Drip, drip, drip._

Enough to drive any person insane.

_Drip, drip, drip._

Especially him.

Such a large, empty room. The only sound he could he was dripping water, echoing as each drop splashed onto the cold, hard ground that he seemed to be lying on.

_Drip, drip, drip._

Finally, aggravated, John attempted to stand up. Failing, he lay there, trying to take in his dark surroundings. He could hardly tell if his eyes were open or closed, it was so dim. When he squinted, he could make out the shape of a room that was more than just familiar.

For some time now, it was home.

He was laying in what was left of the headquarters of Magneto's Brotherhood. And as far as he could tell, it was completely and totally destroyed.

A ceiling, walls, and a ground made entirely out of shattered rock. There was nothing else.

_Well, the floor would explain the backache._

Once again, John tried slowly to pick himself up. He swayed slightly on his feet, and had to find a level rock in order to gain some kind of balance.

In his moment of accomplishment, he looked around and spotted an arch-shaped door.

_Escape._

But as he reached the door, someone moved into the way and blocked his path through.

To his shock, it was himself standing in front of him. A perfect mirror image, with a smirk written across it's face.

In confusion he reached into his pocket for his lighter. Then, painfully, he remembered the needle that had hit him earlier. He opened his palm, and stared at it in disgust.

When he looked up, his clone had transformed into the exotic blue figure that John believed he'd never see again.

"Mystique?"

She gazed at him, half glaring and half amused.

"Pyro." That was all she said, and she continued to stare at him.

John had been so surprised to see Mystique that he had nearly forgotten one thing.

"But you…" he began pointed at her.

"You were…and the cure-"

"-isn't permanent." She finished for him.

"But how…what?"

She put her hand and his shoulder and led him to a room where there were chairs scattered throughout. She turned one upright for him, and motioned for him to sit down.

As he sat, she began to pace slowly back and forth in front of him.

"I was upset about losing my metamorph power, of course. The Brotherhood, Magneto, they had really been my true life. But I reverted back to being Raven Darkholme…useless, hated, and lonely. I bought an apartment out in California, and I began looking for jobs. I found one, and I went there for an interview. Halfway through, I looked down at my hand, and saw that it was blue. Well then, the interviewer noticed. Fool. He started screaming, so I shut him up." She began to grin, as if proud that she had obviously murdered someone. "So I went to the apartment, and found that my entire mutation had returned. I saw a candle and decided to try it. It worked. I looked in the mirror, and I was you. So anyway, I was heading here, and saw trouble near a pharmacy-"

"Wait," John cut in, "how exactly were you headed here?"

"Let's just say I borrowed a jet. So anyway, I saw you, and landed. A S.W.A.T. team was dragging you into the back of a van like a limp rag doll. So, I brought you here."

He muttered a small "Thanks."

Then, John began to fiddle with his hands, staring at them intensely.

Mystique noticed. His neck had a sort of greenish hue when she had gotten him onto the plane. "You were cured too?"

"Hey, at least it's not gone forever. I don't think I could've lived with that."

"It won't be long," she said sympathetically.

**The X-Mansion, New York**

Hank McCoy, known sometimes as Beast, stood ready to set the level of the Danger Room for the new X-Men. He looked with pride as Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Colossus, Shadowcat, and Angel stood waiting for their final member. Nightcrawler, a teleporter, had recently returned to the mansion from an extended stay in Germany after he had caught word of the Professor's death.

Suddenly, a whirl of blue appeared beside Hank, startling him.

"Beast, I am sorry to be late. You will join us?"

Hank turned to see Nightcrawler standing next to him, and he was motioning towards the Danger Room.

"Oh, no. I'll be here, working the controls."

"Ah," was all he said, and suddenly he became a whirl of smoke, and was standing inside the room.

Storm looked at him through the glass, and gave the signal that they were ready.

Beast pressed a button, and they were off.


	4. Don't You People Ever Die?

Disclaimer: Don't own, not mine…blah blah blah.

A/N: Okay the danger room simulated people are either called past selves or robots. I vary. And I'm sorry if you are all annoyed by my constant responding to each…and…every…single…review. I just feel weird ignoring them…

**The Danger Room**

Logan stood, motionless. He found himself in the mansion, but it somehow looked different.

He looked towards the other X-Men, but they were nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, he heard himself. He walked towards the kitchen, intrigued. What he saw disturbed him deeply.

He saw himself, in a scene he had experienced long ago. It was night, and he was talking to Bobby Drake, who was also in the kitchen.

His past self was facing the fridge, so probably couldn't see Logan peeking around the corner.

"Got any beer?"

Bobby Drake's past looked up, surprised.

"This is a school."

"So that's a no?" The past Logan looked a bit disappointed.

"Yea, that's a no."

"Got anything other than chocolate milk?"

"There should be some soda in that small cupboard," said Bobby as he pointed to Logan's right.

Logan moved away from the door, hoping to not be seen by the Danger Room's simulated versions on himself and Bobby.

He began to move quickly, searching for any of his fellow X-Men. He passed Rogue's room, and stopped to look at her. She was sleeping peacefully, with gloves beside her. He watched her, but the realized it was only a robot, and that he was in the Danger Room. Still, he wondered about her. In a way, he saw himself as her father, but also as her friend. He wasn't ready for her to leave for good.

"Logan?"

He turned around to see Storm standing there, looking confused.

"Is that you, or a robot?"

Logan looked down at his X-suit, and sighed.

"Do you think I sleep in this thing?"

"I'm sorry it's just, I don't understand why we're in the mansion."

Suddenly, a piercing scream shattered the air.

Even though they were both covering their ears, they both turned to a thump that had sounded behind them.

As Storm moved forward, Logan held her back.

"Wait."

He moved forward, and listened as he pressed against the wall. He heard marching, and the breathing of men who didn't belong.

Logan realized where they were.

Closing his eyes, he muttered "Oh great…"

Storm moved up beside him, and grabbed his arm,

"Logan? Why did the Danger Room bring us here? Logan?"

He held his finger to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet. He sidestepped, and ran smack into himself.

The past Logan only stared in wonder, as did the past Bobby, who was behind him.

They really didn't have time to worry, though, because soldiers dressed in black were beginning to surround them.

The past Bobby spoke up first.

"What's going on?

As if he was the wise one, they two robots and Storm turned towards Logan. But he was crouching, ready to attack the shoulders. Upstairs in the dormitories, they heard thundering footsteps.

Storm's eyes grew wide. She tugged Logan's arm.

"Logan, you have to tell us what's going on. The children…"

Logan turned to face her, and looked her straight in the eye.

"When Stryker attacked the mansion. You remember? Before Alkali Lake?"

Storm stood motionless for a moment at the mention of Alkali Lake. Then, she searched her memory.

"Where were me and Jean?"

"Donno, in the X-Jet probably."

She pulled away, and faced the soldiers, who now had raised guns.

They hadn't realized the robot had pulled out his claws, and was in the middle of slashing apart the soldiers. As he got the last one, the soldier pulled the trigger.

A tranquilizer dart hit him, and he faded completely.

"Shit. Alright. Storm," he faced her, "go upstairs. Find as many children as you can. I donno if we hafta defend them or fend off these guys, but I can take care of them."

As Storm turned to go, she looked over her shoulder. "Be careful Logan."

He nodded, and she went upstairs.

Bobby…"

The robot spun to face him.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Come with me."

He hesitated, and started to mumble something about Rogue, but Logan just kept moving, and Bobby ran to catch up.

Upstairs, Storm was running, trying to find the children. From what she could see, the rooms were empty. She turned a corner, and looked towards the passage that led outside, which was made to look like a wall panel. It had been opened, she could tell. She knocked it open once more, and peered inside. She saw Peter, or Colossus, leading a group down the hall. As she moved to follow them, she felt footsteps vibrating the floor behind her.

"Storm?" It was a deep voice, one of her students.

When she turned, the student in front of her was one that put her into a slight rage.

"John?"

He was in his pajamas, with his lighter in his hand. Very different from the John at Alkali Lake. He was standing beside Rogue, and holding her hand. She was trembling, and practically cutting off the circulation to his hand.

_If she holds any tighter, she'll activate her power through her glove. Or Bobby's rage._

"What the hell's going on here?"

He was still staring at her, wide eyed.

Suddenly, as the window shattered, John immediatly pulled Rogue to the ground, and they lay there, silent.

Stormdidn't know what to make of his protectiveness, but passed it off as a defect in the robot.

"Cmon," she said and pulled them up. As the three ran towards the stairs, Storm quickly tried to formulate a plot. They reached the stairs, only to run straight through Kitty Pryde. Both of them.

"Oh God," Kitty panted, "thank God I found you. Where-"

But as Kitty god ready to ask the question, her younger version faded.

John and Rogue, still firmly holding hands, also faded. Then, the whole mansion slowly faded with the rest, leaving Storm, Kitty, and the rest of the X-Men in the danger room.

Storm looked to see the other X-Men staring at the control center, with shock on every one of their faces. She looked, and her jaw dropped.

Professor Charles Xavier and Scott Summer, both dead, stood solid and alive right before them. Beast was next to them, gaping.

Xavier moved forward, and looked proudly upon his X-Men. Through the intercom he spoke.

"Good to see you all again. Come to my office as soon as you are finished."

He pressed the button, and Kitty, John, and Rogue reappeared.


	5. A Step He Would Regret

Disclaimer: I would've liked them for Christmas, but it didn't happen.

A/N: Sorry for the wait…I know it sucks too but I kinda wrote it in a hurry

**The Danger Room**

Storm and the rest of the X-Men walked towards the control room, their hearts' pounding. They had barely finished the simulation, much more concerned with the dead figures watching them…that were suddenly so ALIVE.

As they reached the room, Logan stopped and turned in front of the door.

"Waitasecond. How do we know this ain't just some kinda trick?"

Storm rolled her eyes. "Logan…" she began as she tried to move past him.

"No Storm. It's been hard enough. On ALL of us." He glanced over her shoulder to the other X-Men. "What good's getting our hopes up?"

"Logan just-"

But he refused to let her move through, grabbing her shoulders and growling a low warning tone. "Storm-I'm not kiddin."

Her eyes began to turn white, and the air crackled with electricity.

As much as Logan would've enjoyed a fight, he knew when Storm meant business.

But as she smiled when he moved aside, he couldn't help but feel a small ache in his heart.

Out of the original X-Men, she was all he had left. And for that reason, he had gained an instinctive protectiveness of her. He wasn't willing to let go of the last piece of his past with Jean that he had.

Logan followed her into the control room, and abruptly shut the door in Angel's face. He and the other X-Men stood on the outside attempting to listen in, as Nightcrawler attempted to teleport himself onto the ceiling of the office, but was met with a sort of psychic block.

Storm and Logan stood facing Professor Charles Xavier and Scott Summers, who were sitting casually, as if resurrection were and everyday part of life.

Suddenly Storm threw herself into Scott's arms, as Logan watched on, slightly resentful. She then gave the Professor a firm handshake, and spoke to him with tears in her eyes.

But "How?" was all she could manage.

The Professor hung his head, thinking. "I'm not quite sure."

They all stood in a long silence.

Finally Scott looked up.

"I think-well, we think it has something to do…" He hesitated, glancing quickly at Logan and then to the floor.

"…With the Phoenix."

Once again, their heads hung in silence.

SLAM!

Scott looked up to see the door shut, and Logan gone. He looked questioningly at Storm, who quickly excused herself to follow through the same door.

Logan was moving quickly through the halls, heading towards the elevator to the dorms.

"Logan."

He stopped. In front of him stood a person he never thought he'd see again.

He stood firm, as painful stabs sheared through his chest.

Her red hair was short and flipped, the way it had been at Alkali Lake. Her eyes were warm and friendly, her arms outstretched.

"Logan, it's been too long."

He dared to take a step forward. He had waited so long, he had dreamed of this. The day when she would return, the day he would wake from this horrible nightmare.

It was a step he would regret.

In a split second she had moved, hanging in his arms. Her hair long and scraggly, her body limp in his arms. The painful image of the Phoenix she had been, the being that consumed the one he loved. He was reliving the day she died, right at this moment.

He couldn't handle it.

He collapsed to the floor, only hearing the sound of a female voice whispering his name.

"Logan…"


	6. The Lost Boy

WARNING: Abuse and death.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

A/N: So to anyone who was ever reading this and wanted an update...I owe you all a cookie and an apology.

-A.S.

* * *

**X-Mansion, New York**

The gates to the mansion were as beautiful as they had been years before, just as he had remembered them. No, he was not welcome there. But from time to time, Eric Lehnsherr would stand and watch as the house run by his former colleague Charles Xavier thrived.

It never changed. Children were running across the grounds, nothing extraordinary about it. Just a beautiful private school, 1407 Graymalkin Lane, one so exclusive you had never heard of it. But Eric knew all too well that if you went inside, this school certainly wasn't ordinary.

He remembered the day he had asked a young mutant, John Allerdyce, if he missed the mansion.

John had given him a disgruntled look, and went back to the small device he was working on, something he could wear on his hand to help control his fire.

Eric knew all too well that John carried bad memories with the mansion. Many a mutant of the Brotherhood was a student in the mansion, bred to protect themselves from those who hated them, called them freaks, but never to harm. Soon these savvy mutants would figure it out-there just was no point. No human would ever measure to the power of a mutant, and would forever suppress them with a tyrannical fear and misunderstanding. From them, there was no escape.

It is why Eric created the Brotherhood. He liked to think of it as a sister school to Charles' mansion. A place for those who were wiser, had shed the naivety that ran rampant through the X-Mansion. A place only for those who understand that sometimes you had to sacrifice a few people if it was for the betterment of the oppressed-the mutants.

Eric Lehnsherr turned slowly away from the iron bars. With Charles gone now, Storm now ran the mansion. He suspected she was doing a good job. Still, he felt a growing discomfort in his chest as he now realized he would no longer be welcome to stroll along the outside of the mansion, as he had done when Charles was alive. His good friend was well aware that Magneto was in the area, but trusted him enough to not break into the school. It was a ground of trust formed by old friends, one that never would be breeched.

With a sigh, the former Magneto walked away, heading to a place he didn't look forward to seeing again.

**Brotherhood Headquarters, New York**

The flame on the candle was taunting him, teasing him. It was beautiful, constantly active and moving even in a dark, airless room.

It was an old friend, one he had come to love.

_Flashback_

_A young John, about age 7, is running freely throughout his neighborhood, his hands full with a pillow and a stuffed backpack. He was on his way to see his best friend, David. They were going to spend the night across town with his sister Moira._

_He could hardly run, his hands were so full and his shoes were untied._

_Next thing he knew, he was sprawled across the ground, his stuff scattering everywhere, his glasses land with a _clink_, one of the lenses pops out._

_He is scrambling around, gathering it up, when he hears a familiar voice, accompanied by the sound of bike tires._

_To his dread and horror, the neighborhood bully, Sam, was looming over him._

_Sam was __12,__ and that made him the oldest kid on the entire block. His cronies were four brothers on bikes ranging from ages __8__-11. Even the 5-year old was taller than John. The Montgomery Brothers' unnatural size made up for the fact that Sam wasn't all that much bigger than the scrawny John._

_John was their favorite target and he knew why. Everybody in John's suburban neighborhood was the average nuclear family: Father with a high paying job, gorgeous wife, perfect children, __cute__ little dog so small you could pick up, with perfectly trimmed front lawns and dinner at 5 pm sharp._

_The Allerdyce house was the first and only exception. John's mother was only 23, a high-school dropout. The dad was some high school jock who couldn't let his football career be ruined by the prospect of a child, so he leaves to go off to college. __Mary Allerdyce runs away from her perfect neighborhood, but eventually comes__back when the money is so short that baby John's ribs are visible from lack of food._

_She comes crawling back to her parents and their perfect world, where she doesn't really belong. Out of shame, her parents hide her. 7 years later, she still __li__ves there, above the garage in a small room with her son. They only have each__other._

_John had been c__alled many things over the years. "Bastard child" and "Little accident" were the ones that made his mother cry, yet he didn't understand what they meant._

_The neighborhood made sure he didn't fit in. When he went in with a black eye and swollen lip because Mommy's new boyfriend had slapped him around, he was deemed an even bigger freak._

_John looked past __Sam's shoulder__, attempting to calm down. He saw a metal trashcan with a small __fire__ inside, obviously Sam and his gang had been practicing amateur criminal arson again, which they often did for entertainment,_

_John looked up in fear as Sam bent to pick up John's glasses. He wedged the lens back in, __then__ cleaned it off with his shirt. He then placed them gingerly on the ground, and stopped on the other __lens__. The other four got off their bike, laughing._

_John's face flushed as he backed up helplessly, knowing very well he was about to get beat up and tossed in the lake. He never liked water, and he certainly couldn't swim._

_Images flashed in his head of one of his mother's old boyfriends__, Micah__, smelling of whiskey ad advancing on him in this very same way. He had arms almost as long as John's tiny body. He was yelling, angry about something John had nothing to do with__. John was backed into a corner, there was nowhere to escape, and his mother __wasn't__ home. "MOM!!!!" he screamed, tears blurring reality._

_"MOM!!!!"_

_Instantly he heard laughter._

_"Quit __cryin__'. Your Mommy isn't here to help you know." Was it Sam who said it, or Micah?_

_He couldn't see straight, he kept flashing between the street with Sam in front of him and the memory of the kitchen with Micah._

_His face and body was growing hot, and he started to shake. Sweat poured down his back, his nose was running and tears were leaking down his cheeks. He felt like he had a fever._

_He was cringing, he dropped onto his knees. His eyes were trained on the trashcan in the distance. The fire…was moving?_

_The next thing John saw through his tear-blurred eyes was the fire rising wildly into the air, taking the form of a giant bird. It swooped in his direction._

_The next thing he heard were the agonizing screams of five boys._

_End of Flashback._

John pulled his wallet from his back pocket. It was empty except for a picture of him and two other teens inside a mansion, one a blonde boy, the other a girl with dark hair and a beautiful face.

Where there should have been money was a newspaper clipping, faded and wrinkled. He opened it up to read the headline.

* * *

**Six Boys Found On Suburban Street: Gruesome Crime Leaves Five Dead**** and One Missing**

A beautiful day in the little town of Ownetown, Missouri would become the worst day in the area's history. "In 37 years on the force, I have NEVER seen anything like this," said police chief Robert James. Rumors have been spreading like wildfire throughout the nation as FBI specialists are being called upon to investigate the apparent murder of and torture of six boys by burns.

On May 24th Sam Elliot, age 12, and four brothers: Terry, age 11, Jesse age 10, and twins Cam and Dominic Montgomery, age 8, were found dead on West Ellen St around noon. They were a gruesome sight, one witness describing them as unrecognizable piles of "bone, burnt skin, and ash." The crime has even the FBI puzzled, and the parents calling for answers as to how their children were mysteriously burnt alive in the middle of the day.

One Boy, John Allerdyce, aged 7, survived. He was found with multiple scars and abrasions. Doctor Jean Gray, P.H.D, believes the boys injuries were from previous abuse. She said she needed to do more studies, though. "This boy was obviously at the scene. He was found with a 103 degree temperature, and his clothes were burnt. He needs to be examined immediately." But then, another twist. A day after young John was found, he disappeared. His mother was questioned, as well as many prominent community members and John's friend David. John has been put on Amber Alert since, and numerous search parties-

Continued on A5 under "John"

* * *

Pyro threw the article angrily towards the candle. He watched it burn, the flames licking it, suffocating it, twisting it into unfamiliarity. Just like those five boys. 

He reached forward towards the flame, afraid to touch it.

_What if it burns?_

The green hue remained on his neck.

He leaned forward anyway, daring. As his finger touched the flame, it singed him, a pain searing his skin.

He lept back in anger and surprised, then turned to the flame once more.

_It's okay. I'll wait. You've never let me down before, friend. I'll wait forever if I have to._

With that thought, he blew the candle out.


End file.
